OBDII Scanner
 

I'm looking for suggestions for a code reader that will interpret the error codes on my 2002 XK8. I have an old Autel Maxiscan MS300 which gave me the P0171, P0174, P1638, and P1642 codes when my CEL came on. I researched the problem on this forum and decided to replace the MAF sensor. I ordered one on Ebay for $26 and tried it. The CEL light went out but I could not accelerate rapidly at all. As long as I gently accelerated it was fine but when rapidly accelerating the engine would stall and cough until I released the accelerator. I tried a different MAF which worked properly for acceleration but set the CEL again. I replaced the O rings on the breather tube between the valve cover and air intake tube as suggested on this forum but still have the same problem.

I thought about ordering the BlueDriver Bluetooth Pro OBDII Scan Tool for iPhone & Android from Amazon but when I emailed them about specific codes for a 2002 Jaguar XK8 their response was:
"Your XK8 will support engine and emissions diagnostics (basically anything that turns on the check engine light). We will be looking into enhanced codes (ABS, SRS, etc) for your vehicle in the future, but no timeline is currently available"

Thanks for any suggestions

P0171/P0174.....Running lean on both banks.

P1638....Can instrument token missing....P1642...Can short circuit.....most likely caused by plugging in/out of obd scan tool and reading live data...

Best look at your fuel trims and air leak's in the air intake duct ...among other things..

XKR-DAY, I have checked the air intake duct for leaks and found none, I'm not sure how to look at fuel trims, I assumed I would need a better OBDII scanner to interpret the data.

Thanks for the information.

A cheap ( $40) E-Bay or Amazon OBDII reader and a phone app like Dash Commander will read fuel trims and any other engine code as well as clear codes if required

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to get the inexpensive code readers to work on my '02 XKR, I purchased a icarsoft LR-1. It will read (and clear) most Land Rover and Jaguar codes including the engine, transmission and ABS codes. It does have a few idiosyncrasies I don't care for, but as a non-professional product, it does "enough" for me to be useful. And at $100, more or less, the price is not too extreme. There is an updated model, the icarsoft LR-2 , but many, or most, of it's enhanced functions do not apply to the older cars such as the X100 series.


Z

I have the iCarsoft i930, an older version of the one above ^^, and it does quite a few Jaguar and Land Rover - specific reads and resets/functions.
I'm pretty happy with it.

Basically, there are 3 options:

1. Cheap scanner that reads standard OBDII on any car. It has no knowledge of any Jaguar/Land Rover systems (ABS, Airbag, etc.). You can get this as cheap as a few $. Check ELM327 devices on eBay/Amazon. You then need a phone/tablet app to get the actual data, like trouble codes, and some live data (fuel pressure, fuel trims). All-in-all, you should get one of these anyway. Too cheap not to get.
2. JLR handheld scanner. These devices have a more-or-less complete understanding of all the modules in our cars. They read all trouble codes and can get live data from (most?) modules. There is a Foxwell model people like. There is also an iCarsoft model. I am sure there are tons of others. Should be anywhere between $100 and $200, so a bit expensive, but well worth it in the long run. FWIW, the Foxwell model can be supplemented with software for other cars (there is a memory card) so one handheld device can service more than one car, if it applies to you. These devices can also do some "extra" stuff like add new keys, but somehow not reset transmission adaptations. These devices are probably the standard easy answer as to what to get for most diagnostics functions on our cars.
3. IDS/SDD from British Diagnostics. It is laptop software in a virtual machine that runs the original "dealer level" software. It comes with a USB cable that reads all protocols from the car. This is the ultimate in functionality, but it needs a laptop to run. The software is a bit tough to operate without any training, and looks dated for sure. The flip side is that it does everything, including updating software on modules on the newer cars, VCATS, keys, transmission adaptations, live data capture of just about anything, original programming of a car to its destination country (like DRL in Canada), etc, etc.. Speaking in theory, SDD lets you enter symptoms, and the software can come up with diagnostics based on all the trouble codes.I am sure a novice user could "brick" a module by applying the wrong sequence of steps, but a determined user can do some advanced functions too. The tough part is to deal with BD as it has historically been very unresponsive to direct inquiries, but seem to have (in the great eventually) delivered on orders people had placed over the years.

Unfortunately, there are MANY possible sources of air leaks around the heads of our cars. You can go around and replace all o-rings on all of these Norma connectors. You can replace the VVT seals, especially if you see oil. The brake booster connection to the throttle body is also common. If you have an EGR, the pipe can leak, etc, etc. The actual best diagnostics for this is to do a smoke test, i.e. inject smoke in the intake (while disturbing as few things as possible) and check where smoke is coming out. There are some smoke machines available for home mechanics on eBay, but not super cheap (between $75 and $150). You can also build your own with an old soldering iron burning baby oil in a jar, and pipe it all up to a bicycle air pump for way cheaper. These smoke machine are typically used to find evap leaks, so EVAP is a good search term. Of course you can call around for a shop to do this for you and hopefully take pictures of the leaks.

All-in-all air leaks suck. They make the engine less responsive, it feels like it has less torque, and is more frustrating to drive, You can also develop pinging at low rpm/high load. An OBDII tool will let you read the trims, and these code trip at 25% additional fuel. For best driveability, these trims should not be much over, say, 5%. If you get your trims that low, the car will feel like new.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, I am ordering the iCarsoft LR V1.0 from Amazon today. Hopefully it will help me diagnose any failures I might have on this car. I'll keep you posted.

One thing I forgot to mention is the Verizon HUM device I have on the car, it has many features one of which is monitoring codes. If the car does set a code I get an email from the device with the code and an explanation if it is one in their database, that was real handy when the battery voltage went below 12.0 volts due to nonuse for months while I was recovering from heart surgery. I have not received an email for any new codes since I replaced the O rings on the breather tube but the CEL is still on. My Maxiscan tool will not reset the CEL so hopefully the iCarsoft LR will.

The iCarsoft scanner arrived today and it cleared all the codes and reset the CEL. My only problem with it is the User's manual is very small and difficult to read. I tried downloading it from their website but the webpage for iCarsoft.us has a message "The Domain name expired on 04-25-2019".
I went for a long drive to check it out, the car ran better than it ever has since I bought it last year! Now all I have to do is wash it again to get all the "Love bugs" off the nose and windshield, they are thick this time of year around here and are acidic and will damage the paint if left on too long.

Thanks for all the help, this site is awesome!

let me know if you are having a specific issue with the LR-1. I've found a few work-arounds when looking for a particular item.


Z

Zray, Thanks, I will do that. I'm going to play with it for awhile to get used to the features I can use. I appreciate the help.

Mike

Keep in mind that iCarsoft offers zero technical support and yes, their owners manuals are skimpy at best. The more you use the device, the better you will become with it. Good luck....

Thanks, I sent them an email this morning asking for assistance with the Owners manual. Hopefully they will send me a PDF of it. In the mean time I am going to connect it and check out all the features I can.

I tried the e-mail assistance route with iCarsoft more than three years ago after I purchased my scanner on Amazon. While I eventually got a response, it was basically "sorry, we cannot help you because we only have one engineer and he is busy somewhere out in the field and we do not know when we will see him again"....

Let us know if they actually attempt to help you. But I am not holding my breath....

Seem to come right up:Carsoft_V1.0_Series_Manual.pdf

Great! Maybe my email to them yesterday about their domain name expiring helped. Thanks, fmertz

I feel like replacing the O rings on the breather tube between the valve cover and air intake may have helped. It does run better now than it did before. I am trying to read the fuel trims using the iCarsoft tool but haven't been able to so far. I downloaded the User Manual this morning so hopefully that will help.

Check if there is an OBDII module in the scan tool. My Foxwell tool has a separate icon for it. The trims are standard, not Jaguar-specific.